Exclusive Pumping 101

Exclusive Pumping 101

I know I’m a month late (August went by so fast y’all!!), but in honor of last month being World Breast Feeding Month, I’m partnering with my friends at Walmart to FINALLY share my tips and tricks on EXCLUSIVE PUMPING. As you may know, I exclusively pumped for the first 12 months of Everly’s life (minus the first 3 weeks in which I breastfed). It wasn’t something I’d planned to do, but I am SO very thankful it was an option that worked well for both Everly and I. Just in the amount of messages and comments from you all alone (it has been my number one question and blog post request since Everly was born), I know that exclusive pumping is a trend that’s on the rise, and while it may not work for every mama, it’s good to know that the option is out there and it IS totally doable. That’s why I’m so excited to partner with my go-to place for convenient and affordable baby must-have’s, Walmart, to share my top exclusive pumping tips and tricks along with my list of must-have items to help you be successful AND a FREE Exclusive Pumping Schedule Download plus a FREE Pump Tracking Download.

Whether you’re a new mama struggling with breastfeeding or a mama-to-be who’d like to learn a little more about exclusive pumping as an option, click through to learn about the tips, tricks and items that helped me exclusively pump until my daughter was 12 months old and all about my personal journey to exclusive pumping.

What Is Exclusive Pumping?

Exclusive pumping is pumping as often as a baby would breastfeed and then using that milk to bottle feed your baby breastmilk. Your baby is still drinking your breast milk, you’re simply using a pump to get it and a bottle to feed him or her. I’ve quickly learned that things are often abbreviated in the TTC (trying to conceive) and pregnancy/motherhood world, so exclusive pumping is also often referred to as EPing. With a few tools, which you can find at everyday low prices at Walmart, and some tips and tricks to keep in mind, exclusive pumping IS absolutely possible and is a great option for mama’s who are having trouble breastfeeding and still want to feed their babies breastmilk. Keep scrolling to read my journey on how I began exclusive pumping and my tips on how to be successful.

My Journey to Exclusive Pumping

Breastfeeding is such a beautiful, incredible thing. The way our bodies synchronize to exactly what our babies need, all while doing the things that our body needs right after birth (like inducing cramps to shrink our uterus and helping us shed that baby weight!) is nothing short of a miracle. With that being said, I’m a firm believer in FED IS BEST. Whatever works best for YOU to feed your baby is the RIGHT option!!

Like lots of mama’s-to-be, I had every intention of breastfeeding Everly. I knew it would be difficult, but I’d set a goal for myself to make it to six months…how hard could it really be to do the most natural thing on earth?? Boy was I WRONG! NOTHING could have prepared me for just how difficult and painful it would be. Everly’s latch was strong (like, too strong!) and even before I left the hospital, my nipples were bloodied and blistered (if that makes you cringe, just imagine how it feels!) I’d heard that it eventually gets less painful though, so I carried on with exclusively breastfeeding.

I knew I wanted to build up a big milk supply, so as soon as I got home from the hospital (before my milk even came in), I started pumping in between nursing sessions. Then, once my milk came in, I had to pump in-between every session out of necessity because of my supply.

Flash forward to two and half weeks later of breastfeeding and pumping, and I started feeling like I was hit by a bus – feverish, achy and unable to get out of bed. Sure enough, the thermometer read 101. Thankfully, my OBGYN had warned me that if I came down with a fever to immediately call for antibiotics. I called right away so I

could start taking them as soon as possible. As recommended, I fed through the mastitis and I’m not exaggerating when I say it was one of the MOST PAINFUL THINGS I’ve ever experienced!! It felt like glass shards were coming out of my nipples (which were still blistered, cut and bleeding). As I sat crying in pain while feeding Everly, my own mother who was there to help at the time, convinced me to give myself a booby break and try giving Everly some of the breast milk I’d been pumping through a bottle. Without hesitation, Everly sucked an ENTIRE 4 ounce bottle down. I remember feeling a mix of relief and sadness that she took so quickly to the bottle, but the euphoria of no longer feeling the pain won over. my emotions To keep up my supply, I set alarms on my phone every few hours to pump.

The following evening, after going on a 24 hour booby break, I tried breastfeeding Everly.  She would have NONE of it. She just cried furiously and refused to latch. Once you become a mom you quickly realize that the sound of your baby’s cry is the worst thing you’ve ever heard. Once I offered the bottle, the crying stopped and I decided to just pump.

I tried several more times to get Everly to latch, but she refused, so I remembered something that one of my friends, Kendall, who’d recently had a baby told me about. Exclusive pumping. I started googling it and found a blog dedicated to the topic as well as a super helpful page on Kelly Mom. I decided to GO FOR IT!! I’d set a goal of breastfeeding for six months, and while this wasn’t exactly the same, the end result would be. Everly would get the nutrition she needed from breastmilk. And I was able to do it for TWELVE MONTHS!! And the first six, we never even had to supplement formula once. But I couldn’t have done it without the support of my husband, my family and these essential tools/best practices. Keep reading to find out.

Exclusive Pumping Essentials

1 – Wearable Pumphttps://rstyle.me/+KQZZ1s__fjjt6TSPBvq6Kw & Traditional Pump

2 – Boppy Pillow (for you and baby)

3 – Bottle Warmer

4 – Comfy Glider 

5 – Lunch Box & Freezer Pack (to store milk)

6 – Lanolin Cream & Nipple Pads

7 – Comfy Nursing Bras & Hands-Free Bras

8 – Large Drying Rack

9 – Milk Storage Bags

10 – Bottles That Work Best For Your Baby

  My Top 10 Exclusive Pumping Tips

1 – Invest in a Good Pump (I recommend getting two)

If you’re even considering exclusively pumping, then definitely invest in a good pump. I used the Spectra S2 (which I got for free through insurance) and it worked great but the Medela Pump In Style is also a great option and Walmart currently has it marked down. If you’re on-the-go like me, I suggest splurging on the Willow Wearable Pump or another wearable pump like the Freemie, which is currently on sale at Walmart!. This is a cordless pump that fits right inside your bra, so you can be on-the-go while pumping, rather than stuck on a chair next the electrical outlet in your home. It was an absolute LIFE-SAVER for me when I was exclusively pumping, y’all (especially in the early days when I had to pump 8 times a day!) If you have insurance, you can most likely get a free standard pump anyway (& the options are actually really good!) I can’t tell you how amazing it was to use my wearable breast pump, especially in the early days when Everly was constantly up and down from naps and I had tons of bottles to constantly clean. I could just pump as I did the dishes, while I held and fed her and even while I was in the car. The Willow was also an essential for night time pump sessions. I would get my wearable breast pump charged and ready to go with the bag inside and set it right on my nightstand, so when my alarm went off, all I had to do was just pop them in my bra and I could pump while I was practically sleeping. It was a DREAM!

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2 – Follow a Schedule and Set Alarms

Besides having a good pump (or two)! The other HUGE part of being successful at exclusively pumping is to set a schedule and stick to it! If you know me, you know I’m not the type A, super organized, scheduled person, so if I can stick to a pumping schedule, SO CAN YOU!! I actually put together a FREE DOWNLOAD based off the schedule I used for exclusive pumping from birth to 1 2months.  The basic rules are simple…every time your baby drinks a bottle, you pump! PUMP TIME should be NO LESS than 15 minutes per session, and if you can, pump for the full 25 minutes (most pumps will auto-shut off after that!) So if you’ve been a mama before or have been around newborns, you’ll know that you do have to pump A LOT in the beginning. To make it super simple for ya, I created a little chart based on how often I pumped when I was EPing for Everly for 12 months. This is what worked for us, and Everly was one of those babies who drank a TON of milk. She averaged 38-40 ounces a day (sometimes more!) and with this schedule, I was able to exclusively feed her breast milk until she was six months old. Once she was six months old, she began eating solid and drinking water, plus we knew we had a nine day trip coming up, so I  began giving her a bottle of formula every few days to build my freezer stash of frozen milk so she’d have plenty when we were out of town.

You’ll find my exclusive pumping schedule below, and you can also print it. Best practices for me are to set daily alarms for the times you want to pump (you can schedule them to repeat everyday using the iPhone alarms) so you are less likely to miss a session. And if you do miss one, don’t freak out!! Just add in an extra sesh or pump 10-15 minutes longer on your first morning pump the next day and try not to miss another within the next couple of days.

3 – Set Up a Pump Station at Home

While I was still pregnant, I remember reading about someone setting up a “nursing station” on a random chat board, and once I started EPing, I realized how helpful it would be to set up a “pumping station,” so I set up my own little stations at home. In the beginning, I set up two pumping stations, one by my nightstand (for those middle of the night and early morning pumps) and one in my living room in a big comfy chair next to the couch and, of course, an outlet on the wall where my pump could be plugged in. At each station, I had my pump parts, ready to go, milk bags, my milk tracking notebook (more on that in the next tip) and a pen, a charger for my phone, as well as some Lanolin cream and nipple pads (yes, your nipples still get dry and cracked just from pumping in those first few months!) I actually had a little Sterilite three drawer standing organizer (just $22 at Walmart!) from college that I used at my pump station in the living room to organize everything. You can also use one that sits on your tabletop like this from Walmart to keep everything organized.

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4 – Track Your Milk Production

Something I found super helpful is tracking my daily milk output along with how much milk Everly was drinking everyday. I actually modified a baby tracking schedule I found online from The Project Girl that included places to track your baby’s sleep, how much he or she eats and when, as well as your daily milk output from pumping, which you can see above. I converted it into a PDF so you can print it and use it too! Just click on the image above for a printer-friendly version of the tracker. I printed out front and back pages and used this for the first several months and it was SO helpful!! Tracking how much I was pumping and how much Everly was drinking allowed me know if I was making enough for Everly and also see when I produced the most vs when my output wasn’t so great. This was especially a confidence booster when I had days where my output was low, knowing that I could bounce back as I had in the past. This trick also taught me something that U hadn’t read, but I swear was 100% true for me. My period came back right at the end of the 5 month mark (womp, womp), and once my cycle was back, I noticed my milk output correlated directly with my cycle. There was one week out of the month where my production was super high, one week where it was lower than average and two that were pretty consistently average. Being able to see that helped give me confidence to keep pumping even through the low production days.

5 – Clean Less Pump Parts With These Tips:

As you cann probably tell, I did a whole lot of reading during my first pregnancy and post-pregnancy. One of the most annoying things about exclusive pumping is having to clean all of the parts. Pumping 8 times a day makes it nearly impossible to do. Here are a few tips that will make your life SO much easier:

-Invest in several gallon size zip lock bags and use them to store your pump parts in the refrigerator, daily, after each pumping session. Keeping them stored in the fridge means you’ll only have to wash your pump parts once or twice a day, rather than eight.

-Order AT LEAST one extra set of pump parts (I had three), so you can rotate them. It’s really not very expensive to buy extra parts and it will save you SO much time and headache.

-Skip the pump cups and use Kiinde Twist Pouches (find them at Walmart on mega sale!) that attach directly to your pump!! These are AMAZING y’all. Simply buy their pump adapter kit (which has attachments to work with practically EVERY pump) and rather than pumping your milk into the cups, the milk goes right into the bags, which can either be freezed or used with the bottles that the company makes. DEFINITELY going to try these from the get go if I decide to EP with our next baby.

6 – YES! You Can Pump While You Travel With These Tips:

As you probably know, I did a TON of traveling while I was exclusively pumping. Pumping while traveling with Everly was really quite easy, but traveling without her meant I had to do a few extra things. I remember being SO nervous the first time I traveled home with all of my milk, but it was a breeze with these tips! Here’s my top tips on traveling while EPing:

-Call your hotel ahead and request a mini fridge/freezer in your room. Most hotels have them and will gladly add them to your room for free. If all you can get is a fridge with no freezer (this happened to me a few times), store your milk in the fridge and the night before you depart for home, bring your milk to the front desk and ask if they can store it in their freezer for you. Just don’t forget to get it on your way out the next day. Going through airport security is MUCH easier with frozen milk. Just tell the person working the security check that you have frozen breast milk ahead of time. I usually never had an issue except for once when we were traveling internationally and they had to test the milk in one of my bags. It’s LIQUID GOLD though y’all, it’s totally worth it even if you do have to wait a few extra minutes in security.

-Look up where the Mamava stations at the airport. Nearly every major US airport is equipped with them, and many have the, in multiple terminals. These are little private nursing and pumping stations, complete with seating and outlets where you can sit down in privacy and pump or nurse. I discovered them on our first trip without Everly and used one on every trip since. SO brilliant!

-Make one of your carryons your “pump bag”. During the 12 months that I EPed I always traveled with a pump bag as on of my carryons. It was a medium sized tote with a built in cooler where I stored my pump and pump parts, milk storage bags, baby wipes (for any milk spills), extra large zip lock bags (to store the individual milk bags in) and ALWAYS include a hand pump, JUST in case your pump breaks down or you accidentally forget one of your parts (this happened to me on the first overnight trip I did and I never forgot again!) Having all of your pumping necessities is essential for flight delays or issues losing baggage, and it makes it convenient to have all of your pumping necessities in one place.

7 – Always Pump Right Before Bed

The pump session right before bed is one that you might often be tempted to skip as your months into your exclusive pumping journey. That’s because obviously we are all sooo tired before bed and also because this session usually doesn’t tend to produce a ton of milk. Anytime I skipped this, I definitely paid for it and would notice a drop in my supply, so as tempting as it may be, don’t skip it!!

8 – Drink Tons of Water

Just like breastfeeding, exclusively pumping can be exhausting. I can’t count the number of times I’ve dozed off during a session. Your body is using tons of energy (& burning lots of calories too!) producing milk, so be sure you drink TONS of water. You’ll be surprised at how thirsty you are all the time when you’re EPing, so be sure to stay hydrated, and always bring a bottle or glass or water with you while you’re pumping! Not only will it keep your energy up, it will also help your milk supply.

9 – Keep Occupied While You Pump

All pumping mama’s have been guilty staring at those cups anticipating the milk while you pump, especially during a supply drop. This is the WORST thing you could do. It makes you feel anxious, which makes your body instinctively produce less milk. Try to keep yourself occupied while you pump. For me, that usually meant skimming through some emails on my laptop or updating instagram on my phone, but do whatever helps get your mind off the stresses of motherhood, whether that’s a book or binging on a TV show (side note – if you haven’t watched Outlander yet, you’re MISSING OUT…SO DANG GOOD!!!)

10 – If Your Supply Drops, Keep Calm and Pump On

Here’s the truth: you WILL experience a drop in supply at some point over your EPing journey. I remember feeling so defeated when I experienced my first, and I immediately started taking galactolytes like Fenugreek and lactation cookies and Googled just about any and every trick to up my supply. Here’s my take on it: galactolytes never made a big difference for me, but what did was power pumping (for a whole day, pumping every 1-2 hours), making my pumping session in the morning 10-15 minutes longer for a coupole of days, and then ultimately, just realizing that my milk supply was on a cycle, as I mentioned in my tip #4. Whatever you do, DON’T get discouraged and DON’T let any friend or family member encourage you to stop pumping unless YOU truly want to. There are LOTS of opinions out there from well-meaning family and friends, but you know yourself and your baby best, so don’t let any negativity get in your head, from others or from yourself.

Phew! I think this might be one of my longest posts ever, but I think that about covers my tips on exclusive pumping. I know it sounds like a lot at first, but if you stick to it, you’ll develop a routine that works and before you know it, it will just feel like a part of your daily routine. Once I reached my goal of six months, I thought, “this has become so easy and such a regular part of my daily life, why stop?!” Just like breastfeeding, it just takes a little time, but it is SO rewarding!!

QUESTION: Would You Consider Exclusive Pumping?!

Let me know in the comments below!! Also, I’d love to know your breastfeeding or pumping/feeding stories!! Leave them in the comments below! With our future children, I will definitely try to breastfeed once more, but now that I know I can do exclusive pumping, it will always be an alternative option I’ll implement!!

If you have any questions at all, feel free to drop them down in the comments below or shoot me a dm on instagram – I’d love to help any mama’s out there in whatever way I can!! Click here to read all of my pregnancy, motherhood and baby-related posts

Fair-well xx,

**thanks so much to Walmart for sponsoring this post. All opinions are my own.

-photography by Angie Garcia Photo.